This invention concerns floors specifically for the sport of fencing, where floor sections of aluminum or other material typically are laid in a linear series to form an elongated relatively narrow floor. More specifically, the invention provides an improved friction surface in an extruded aluminum floor, and also several other improvements including reduced noise in a jointed floor during use.
The sport of fencing has seen increased popularity in this country in recent years, as well as in Europe, where it has a much longer tradition. Fencing is usually taught and practiced at local clubs, which hold competitions and participate in competitions locally, regionally, nationally and internationally. Fencing is a highly competitive sport that involves elements of speed, finesse, intelligence and strength. It has a growing number of passionate followers in the United States and is an Olympic sport.
There are three types of fencing: foil, epee and saber. In all three scoring is by valid touches on the opponent, but in foil and epee a touch is made by a thrust against the opponent, while saber involves slashing strokes. A plunger on the tip of the epee and the foil retracts with a valid touch and the score is indicated electronically. In saber fencing there is no plunger but a valid contact between a fencer's saber and the opponent's jacket or mask will electrically indicate the touch. Typically there are lights on or near the fencing floor that illuminate whenever a touch is made. In epee fencing the floor is conductive, so that when the floor is touched and the plunger depressed, no touch is electronically indicated.
The floor or piste on which the fencing competitors stand and perform is very important. The competing area is usually an elongated strip 1.5 meters wide. Although this can be simply laid out with border delineations on a wooden floor, wood is not the ideal surface. The surface should allow for controlled sliding of the foot during all the movements involved in the sport, but for gripping the sole of the foot firmly when full weight is placed upon the foot. At many clubs floor overlays are used, laid in one or more long strips over another floor which may be concrete, wood or other material.
Several manufacturers make floor overlays or “strips”, including PBT of Hungary (see fencePBT.com) and MultLock, a Turkish company (see multlock-turkey.com). Both make strip aluminum fencing floors formed in one-half meter sections, with a 1.5 meter or 2 meter width. The extruded aluminum sections are formed with a friction surface, and in the case of both PBT and MultLock this high friction surface is achieved by parallel ridges extruded into the floor surface and extending in the lateral (transverse) direction. In both cases these ridges extend above, in upward relief, flat regions of the floor that occur at intervals, and the tips of the ridges are relatively sharp. As a result, the pliable sole of a fencing participant's shoe tends to be engaged too firmly by the sharp ridges, which deform the shoe sole material and push into the sole. This stops the shoe, and even with only partial weight on the shoe it will prevent the fencing participant from sliding the front foot when desired.
Sectioned aluminum fencing floors are often laid on concrete or other hard surfaces, and an issue is the clanging noise produced by a fencing competition on such a floor assembled of metal sections. The sections are hooked together but not bolted or otherwise tightly fastened, so there is give at joints, and the very rapid movements and quick footwork of fencing tend to cause aloud metallic noise that seems to be amplified in the acoustic conditions of some facilities.
It is an objective of the invention described below to provide an improved fencing floor, formed of connectable aluminum sections, with a surface that allows sliding when desired but which provides needed traction when the full weight of the user is placed upon a shoe, and also to make provision for reduction of the noise involved with a multi-section assembled metal fencing floor.